1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Recommendations to a newbie?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by audiodane, Aug 1, 2013.

  1. audiodane

    audiodane Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2013
    2
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    My apologies if this is in the wrong place; I just found this forum today and have spent about an hour looking around and reading up on a few threads. SO much to read and learn.. wow..

    Anyway, I need new tires soon (around the 3-4/32 mark on the four tires). Still trying to figure out what matters, and what doesn't. I'm not a car guy.. Love my '07 Prius (owned for 1yr now) and want to take care of it and help it take care of me (and my gas budget).

    1. Seems some threads talk about people changing the tire dimensions-- why should/shouldn't I considering doing the same?
    2. Is LRR really necessary, or is it just marketing hype?
    3. Does air pressure really change mpg?
    4. Why do people ask if the A/C is set to "AUTO" ?
    5. Just found the battery thread, very interesting, will test this weekend..
    6. Reading through TireRack individual reviews, it seems that some tires react differently to a Prius Gen III as opposed to the Gen II (2007) that I have. Is that a correct observation or am I off-base here?

    Based on TireRack reviews of several tires but only looking at Prius's, specifically only reading reviews from 05-09 Priuses (ignoring 2010+ reviews), shows the following four tires seemingly to regularly "stand out on top" of many of the others (listed in no particular order, just the order I read about them):

    • Michelin Energy Saver A/S
    • Bridgestone Ecopia EP422
    • Sumitomo HTR T
    • Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring

    I drive about 40mi/day commute, mostly highway, average 75mpg (though I just dropped it to 70 to see if that improves mpg). I tend to get around 44.4mpg, while two other Prius owners in my office tend to get about 15-20% higher (high 40's/low 50's). One is a 2012 Prius and I'm wondering if it's just improved. The other is GenII but I think they drive on backroads/slower.

    Safety is very important to me, as is tire longevity and comfort. I'm in North Alabama, so snow is rare. Light freezing rain in the winters is normal. But rainy/wet roads are common and I want very high wet performance. I'm looking for a smooth and quiet ride; I drive pretty "old man"ish except the occasional "oh no- I'm late!" hurrying.

    thanks in advance!
    ..dane
     
    #1 audiodane, Aug 1, 2013
  2. vskid3

    vskid3 Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2013
    773
    228
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    This is a good thread about tires.

    1. Different tire sizes can change your handling and possibly mileage. Sticking with the stock size is fine for most people.
    2. Yes. LRR will give you a few more MPGs than regular tires, especially on a car as sensitive as the Prius. However, as explained in the thread I linked to, not all LRR are created equal.
    3. Yes. Most people recommend 38-42PSI as a good compromise between ride and mileage. Myself and some others go all out and run the sidewall max for best economy.
    4. AC usage can really hurt mileage, especially at max cold in city/stop and go. Setting it to 72-78 should keep you cool enough without making the AC compressor run all the time.

    The GenIII should get better mileage than a GenII, so don't be too worried about that difference. Slowing down on the highway will improve your mileage, but its up to you to decide the right balance between mileage and commute time.
     
    #2 vskid3, Aug 1, 2013
  3. Priusyipee

    Priusyipee Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2012
    350
    269
    3
    Location:
    Upstate New York
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Purchased Continental eco-plus LRR tires for my '08 Prius (Tirebuyer.com) in March. I commute 88 miles daily. Great tire, great handling, and very quiet! Averaging about 50mpg in mixed driving (up and down Adirondack Mtns. Very pleased and would definitely recommend! So far have put over 10,000 miles on them with no change in noise/handling since day1!!
     
    #3 Priusyipee, Aug 1, 2013
  4. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,324
    3,591
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Hey welcome aboard. Re: tires you will find many discussion threads here. The Goodyear ComforTred I have and those are decent tires with really long life and quiet. No one here seems to talk much about them anymore. Think I might go with the Michelin Energy Saver A/S before too long as my tires are older.
     
    #4 wjtracy, Aug 1, 2013
  5. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2008
    772
    96
    0
    Location:
    Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    okay you didn't mention anything about changing the tranaxle fluid, toyota won't recommend anything because they know it won't break down until well after the warranty service, but it should be done at the 30K interval and every 60K miles after that. The reason for the early initial one is that new components with very little clearance will grind and cause tiny bits of metal to be in your tranaxle, not too harmful as the drain plug is also a magnet and should catch most of it but if you're not sure when its been done than get it done.

    you really didn't let us know if you are a DIY or not, but understand that there are certain things that should be done at a dealership as regular repair shops don't have the right software to interface with your car (bleeding brakes, for example). You do not flush the transaxle, just drain it and fill it, one of the plugs requires a weird hex socket (basically a giant allen key), and unless you are thick you shouldn't move the invertor to fill the tranaxle vertically through the fill plug, instead you fill it sideways with the level check plug until the Toyota World Standard WS oil starts to come back out the side (vehicle should be level).

    Toyotas last longer than other cars because their owners take good care of them, its okay to save money by doing some things yourself but understand that some things you just have to shell out the big bucks at the dealership.
     
    #5 cnschult, Aug 2, 2013
  6. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,324
    3,591
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    BTW as low as 44 MPG is not bad for driving 75 MPH...MPG drops off significantly with speeds over about 60 MPH
     
    #6 wjtracy, Aug 2, 2013
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)